1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally to a livestock feeder wagon and more particularly to an improved feeder wagon having horizontally spaced apart inner and outer racks through which livestock project their head for consuming feed in the wagon, the inner rack having a plurality of inner bars extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer rack and extending through holes in the wagon floor so as to be free to flex through limited vertical movement relative to the floor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Portable livestock feeders with an elongated floor surface having a raised center ridge to move feed outwardly toward the sides, shallow side walls to contain feed and some type of dividers extending upwardly from the side walls to form separate feed openings are well known in the art. Prior patents disclosing such feeder wagons include Feteral, U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,333 and Schoessow, U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,663. Another such wagon was built and used by Allan Stark in Minnesota in the early 1970's. Both the Stark and Schoessow feeder wagons included similar arrangements of inner and outer racks for controlling the dispensing of feed from the wagons. The outer rack included a series of slant bars arranged in a vertical plane above the side walls and the inner rack consisted of a series of downwardly and inwardly sloped inner bars rigidly secured to the floor interiorly of the side walls.
Two problems associated with such prior feeder wagons are (1) high stress at the juncture of the inner bars and the floor, and (2) lack of adequate drainage from the pan or floor of the wagon. The first problem results from substantial vertical and horizontal loads placed on the inner bars by such heavy feeds as large round hay bales which may weigh up to 2 tons. The vertical forces from the weight of the bale are transferred through the inner bars to the floor. Outward forces resulting from the bale being wedged between oppositely inclined inner bars likewise result in high stress at the juncture of the inner bars and floor. The problem is compounded by the fact that such feeder wagons are often designed as unibody construction without a frame to reinforce the floor adjacent the connections to the inner bars. Such stress can result in broken welds with rusty jagged edges exposed to the livestock.
A related problem of feeder wagons having rigid inner and outer racks is the stress on the animals resulting from abutment of their heads, particularly against the inner bars, when feeding. Such rigid bars have been known to trap animals such as horned cattle, resulting in injury and death.
Accordingly, a primarily object of the present invention is to provide an improved livestock feeder wagon.
Another object is to provide a livestock feeder wagon having an inner rack of downwardly and inwardly inclined inner bars with freedom of vertical flexing movement relative to the floor of the feeder for shock absorption to minimize stress both on the wagon and livestock.
Another object is to provide such a feeder wagon wherein the bars of the inner rack extend through holes in the floor of the feeder which perform the dual function of assuring adequate drainage.
Another object is to provide such a feeder wagon which is simple and rugged in construction, economical to manufacture and efficient in operation.